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Manitoba town gets surprise visit from polar bear

The sighting of a polar bear amidst the relative greenery of Shamattawa, Man., has caught everyone in the community off guard.

On Aug. 29, 2010 at around 6:30 p.m. Shamattawa RCMP were advised by community members of a polar bear in town near the river. (RCMP)

By Steve LambertThe Canadian Press

Mon., Aug. 30, 2010

SHAMATTAWA, MAN.—It doesn’t have quite the same shock value as a polar bear appearing on the tropical island in the TV show Lost.

But a sighting of one of the white creatures amidst the relative greenery of Shamattawa, Man., has caught everyone in the community off guard.

The bear appeared on the shore of God’s River Sunday evening on the edge of Shamattawa, a First Nations community 700 kms northeast of Winnipeg and accessible only by airplane or ice roads in the winter.

The area is well south of the tree line, and about 150 kms from the shore of Hudson Bay, where the bears normally live. The bear’s white coat stood in sharp contrast to the green brush around it.

“This is the first time anyone in the area remembers seeing a polar bear,” RCMP Sgt. Noel Allard said Monday.

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“As I was taking photos . . . (residents) were all cheering on the shoreline and trying to keep in line with the polar bear as it was swimming across on the other side.”

A senior wildlife official was not shocked by the unusual sighting, and said the bear was probably a young male with a bit of teenage wanderlust.

“They do a lot of wandering, those type of bears at that type of age class, and sometimes they get themselves into trouble,” said Daryll Hedman, a regional wildlife manager with the Manitoba government based in Thompson, Man.

“I’m guessing that that fellow might have ventured right up the Hayes (River) and then the God’s River, right into the community.”

The bear wandered off by sundown and no one was injured. Hedman predicts the bear will eventually make its way back to Hudson Bay over the next month or so, and wait for the bay to freeze up so it can start hunting seals on the ice.

There are about 109 polar bears this year in the area between York Factory, Man., where this bear is believed to have started his journey, and the Ontario boundary, Hedman said. Many more are further north, near Churchill, Man., and into Nunavut.

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